Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition (Kickstarter Special)

Board Game Geek Rating: 6.57
Board Game Geek Avg Player Rating: 6.68
Players: 2 to 8
Published: 2023
Content Notes: Kickstarter Exclusive Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition Board Game by Calliope Games. Includes luxury carved Wooden Box, 8x Metal Sculpted Pawns, rule sheet on bamboo scroll, stone textured resin tiles, embroidered satin bag, hemmed fabric playing surface, gold Dragon and Phoenix statuette, and a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Please note: unless otherwise stated paid add ons from the Kickstarter Campaign are not included.

From the publisher:
A beautiful and beautifully simple game of laying a tile before your own token to continue its path on each turn. The goal is to keep your token on the board longer than anyone else’s, but as the board fills up this becomes harder because there are fewer empty spaces left... and another player’s tile may also extend your own path in a direction you’d rather not go. Easy to introduce to new players, Tsuro lasts a mere 15 minutes and actually does work for any number from 2 to 8.

Tsuro is the all-time classic Game of the Path. It's easy to learn, but rarely mastered, and the rules can be taught in less than a minute. Originally published in 2005, Tsuro has long been favored for its high level of player interaction, clever decisions, and fun, elegant gameplay. 

We couldn’t think of a better way to continue the Tsuro legacy than crafting a limited-edition keepsake version of this all-time favorite!

Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition celebrates nearly two decades of this classic title from Calliope Games with the creation of an heirloom piece to be enjoyed for generations to come.

Your Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition experience begins with a beautifully crafted wooden game box enhanced with vintage finishes. All four sides feature carved images depicting stunning scenes inspired by Tsuro's past. Each piece will be individually numbered with a brass plate to commemorate your very own piece of board game history!

The game's signature plastic pawns have been replaced with eight intricate metal sculptures that can soar across your board for centuries to come.

 Each one represents an iconic Tsuro dragon or phoenix from the game's rich history.

The rules sheet is brilliantly emblazoned across a bamboo scroll. 

Stone-textured resin tiles are individually formed with their unique path configuration. Each will be selected by players from an embroidered satin bag that accentuates the carvings on the box itself in full, vivid color.

Each hand embellished tile can be rotated for various directional possibilities, providing endless strategies and extensive replayability.

The durable, hemmed fabric playing surface mirrors the design of the box top and has an antique finish to offer an even more immersive experience.

Finally, the dragon tile has been replaced with a shining gold statuette of the dragon and phoenix in an elegant dance.

Each game will include a Certificate of Authenticity signed and numbered by the designer, artist, and publisher.

So, how will you take your first flight?

We are grateful to all of the creators who made time in their busy schedules to check out Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition and create such wonderful content for our backer community. Our gratitude goes out to Monique, Naveen, Mark, Jesse, Lincoln, Kevin (and the whole Tantrum House crew), Jonathan, and Chris!

The objective is simple: Stay on the board. During each turn of Tsuro, you will place a tile and slide your pawn along the path created. Take care to chart your course, as other players' paths can take you in the wrong direction...or off the board entirely! This elegant design works equally well for all groups of 2-8 players.

To begin, lay out the game board and have each player pick out their favorite pawn. All the path tiles should be placed in the embroidered bag and gently shuffled. Each player draws three tiles as their starting hand. Now, set the bag aside next to the Golden Dragon and Phoenix statuette. It's time to play the Game of the Path!

Each player chooses a dash on the edge of the board and places their pawn on it.

Now, beginning with the oldest player, everyone takes turns performing the following sequence:

• Play a path tile to extend your path
   
• Move your pawn, and any others adjacent to the new tile
   
• Draw a tile from the bag to replenish your hand

After a player places their tile and moves their pawn along the path, all other pawns with extended paths are moved to the ends of their path. If this causes any pawn to go off the edge of the board, that player is eliminated.

 Players can also be eliminated by colliding!

When the tile bag is depleted, the first player who cannot draw instead takes control of the Golden Dragon and Phoenix statuette. When players are eliminated, their remaining tiles go into the bag, and the current holder of the statuette gets first dibs to draw!

The game continues until only one pawn remains on the board. The player with the last pawn standing wins the game!

To learn more about Tsuro, you can download your own copy of the rulebook here and get acquainted with the game in this blog post. Prefer a solo experience? We have a variant for that as well! 

Tsuro: Luxury Limited Edition will not be available after release through distribution to retailers. Your game will be part of an extremely limited print run, which will be commemorated with an individually stamped metal plate depicting your game's number and a supporting Certificate of Authenticity. We are only producing this game once, so now is your chance!

Calliope Games has used Kickstarter ever since 2012, bringing to life a library of amazing games: Tsuro of the Seas, Roll For It!, Dicey Peaks, The Mansky Caper, Running With The Bulls, Hive Mind, Menu Masters, Ancestree, ShutterBug, Capital City, ShipShape, Everyone Loves A Parade, SpyMaster, and Tsuro: Phoenix Rising!  We love this community and this platform!

Theme:
Tsuro has an Asian spiritual theme - the lines representing the "many roads that lead to divine wisdom", and the game as a whole representing "the classic quest for enlightenment".

This theme is very light and the game essentially plays as an abstract.

Gameplay:
The game consists of tiles with twisting lines on them, a 6x6 grid on which to lay these tiles and a token for each player. Each player has a hand of tiles. On your turn you do two things: place a tile from your hand onto the board next to your token and move your token as far as it can go along the line it is currently on, until it is stopped by an empty space with no tile in (yet), the edge of the board or colliding with another player’s token. If your token reaches the edge of the board or collides with another player’s token, you are out of the game. The aim of the game is to be the last player left with a token on the board. Strategy therefore consists of trying to drive your opponents either into each other or off the board whilst extending your own route in directions that will make it difficult for your opponents to do the same.

Other notes:
Tsuro was originally patented by McMurchie in 1979 under the name Squiggle Game, but was apparently not published at that time. Somewhat similar to Metro and Spaghetti Junction.

--from the publisher

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